What’s wrong with Budapest traffic?
The conflict between motorists and two-wheelers is slowly reaching its peak in Budapest. It is increasingly difficult to travel by car in the capital. We tried to find out what led to this.
Anyone who regularly drives on the capital’s roads must have already experienced how much Budapest’s road traffic has deteriorated in the recent period. Every day, there are countless reports that the bus, trolley, and tram are not running in various parts of the city because of an accident. Although this is usually typical of all big cities, the situation in Budapest has become unprecedentedly chaotic.
More and more vehicles, more and more nervousness
I have been traveling the streets of the capital for more than ten years, first with only a 50cc scooter, then with a 125cc scooter, and now I also use a car. Every day you can see how bad the situation is. As a motorcyclist, I experience first-hand how aggressive motorists are. If a person tries to get out between two rows in a traffic jam – which has been allowed by KRESZ for a couple of years – there are motorists who cannot accept this and instead help the two-wheeler move – respect for the exception – rather block the road by moving in the direction of the center line they move. According to the experts, what happens in the minds of many motorists is that they are stuck in traffic, the small two-wheeler will pull past them, so they should wait.
We found it Attila Pető, the Kresz professor, how he sees the current state of transport in Budapest. In response to Mandiner’s question, the expert stated that today the biggest problem is not with the big black cars present in the old stereotypes, but with the couriers and the typically white boxed goods carriers. He also believes that there is currently a worsening trend in the traffic life of the capital.
The problem is that many people do not respect KRESZ at all”
– settings off.
It is a regular sight on the roads of Budapest that cyclists, be they couriers or simple cyclists, regularly drive through red lights. In the case of the former, although it is not an excuse, this can be explained by the fact that they are pressed for time, since they have to take out the ordered food exactly, but there are those who do it simply because the chance of being held responsible is almost zero.
Attila Pető said to our paper, “since bicycles and mopeds, i.e. scooters with a displacement of less than fifty cubic centimetres, do not require a license plate number, it is impossible to hold them responsible, since it is almost impossible to identify them.
There is only a chance to punish them if a policeman is standing there at the moment of the violation and can catch him”
he announced.
Where is the mistake?
The food couriers traveling on the roads of the capital – for the three largest companies – are usually paid based on address and kilometer money, in Hungarian they go more in one shift, and the more food they deliver, the higher their salary will be. Pető Attila, cyclists can cross in greater numbers despite the red signal, because they can see the area much better than motorists, because there is nothing blocking their view, there are no poles.
Many people just turn their heads and if no one comes, they leave. But this is very dangerous, it can cause serious accidents”
he commented.
We contacted the three largest food courier companies operating in Budapest: Foodpanda, Wolt and Bolt Food, what do they think about the situation and what statistics do they have. Wolt, who has Finnish roots, explained in his reply to Mandiner,
they work with six thousand effective courier partners across the country, who are their contractual subcontractors, so they cannot act against them as an employer.
“We will do everything to ensure that our courier partners carry out the delivery service in accordance with the traffic rules, keeping in mind the safety of all traffic participants at all times” – they stated, and then continue by stating that their obligations regarding traffic safety and other obligations, such as food safety or data protection, are recorded in the contract with the courier partners.
If one of these is proven to be violated by their partner, the contract will be terminated after the investigation of the case. In any case, the company also obliges its contracted subcontractors to take part in an education, where the traffic and food safety and behavioral guidelines, as well as “the values represented by Wolt”, are presented. In their answer, they explained if our courier partner provides the service with a vehicle for which a driver’s license is mandatory, which has a valid license in accordance with the current rules.
The rules are strict, but do you follow them?
Foodpanda told us that before signing the contract, the partners participate in an onboarding process where they get to know our ethics, which are part of the contract.
In it, we present the characteristics of the perfect courier and also talk about traffic safety standards”
– they announced, and then continued by emphasizing the attention that goes beyond caution towards other road users and towards KRESZ. They stated that their partners must comply with all traffic rules, “violation of the currently valid traffic rules during transport is not permitted”.
Foodpanda revealed to us that traffic-related complaints usually arise on the road, they receive an average of one notification of this kind per month, which they investigate and cooperate with the authority in the framework of the procedure. The courier company applies when it wants to start delivering with a car or motorbike, they check whether it has the right license for this.
Bolt Food was the least communicative, they wrote as much in their answer,
thank you very much for your interest, but for business reasons they are not responding.
There is a solution?
According to Professor Kresz, it would help a lot if everyone drove a little more calmly, then the situation wouldn’t be so chaotic. According to him, many motorists’ blood pressure rises when they see two-wheelers driving irregularly on the sidewalk or tram tracks. However, he noted that there are not as many accidents in proportion to the number of violations committed by cyclists.
It’s not very common to hear of a cyclist going through a red light and crashing.”
he told me.
He explained that what some irregular cyclists do is morally wrong. According to Attila Pető, a kind of teaching and education could already help to reduce the number of violations. According to him, anyone who has a driver’s license has studied KRESZ and should know that, for example, it is not allowed to go through a red light.
A deterrent would be good, there are specialized bodies that hold the impact to account. Even pedestrians can be punished”
– said Professor Kresz.
We also contacted the police to find out how many traffic accidents occur every day involving motorcyclists or bicycle couriers, how many arrests or police measures are taken against them, and they replied that the BRFK does not keep statistics on the causes of road traffic accidents, the parties involved, or the measures taken. about the occupation of the subjects.
Opening image: MTI/Attila Manek